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–Pix(above, L-R): PMB and VP Osinbajo
President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo will be spending N11.92bn on food, refreshments and local/foreign trips in the 2023 budget amidst the country’s bleeding economy, the 2023 budget proposal just laid before the National Assembly has revealed.
President Muhammdu Buhari had, on Friday, October 7, 2022, presented a budget proposal of N20.51tn for the 2023 fiscal year to a joint session of the National Assembly, with the budget standing about N750bn higher than the N19.76tn earlier proposed in the 2023-2025 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper.
The president and his vice’s 2023 expenditure on foreign and local trips also include N1.58bn allocated for aircraft maintenance and N1.60bn earmarked for the maintenance and overhaul of the Gulfstream GV and CL605 aircraft engines.
Both the president and his vice’s offices will also be spending a total of N508.71m on foodstuffs and refreshments.
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An analysis of the appropriation bill shows that the Office of the President will be spending N2.49bn on local and foreign trips, while that of the Vice-President will be spending N846.61m.
Additionally, government will be spending N250m on aircraft fuelling, just as purchase of air navigational and defence equipment will be gulping N1.50bn, even as N650m will be going for a new mobile helicopter landing pad.
Bank charges will gulp N36.15m and insurance premium on all 10 aircraft in the fleet is billed to cost N180m.
In the document, the PAF’s budget is grouped under the Office of the National Security Adviser, even as the Presidency had revealed that the PAF maintains 10 aircraft since the inception of the Buhari government in May 2015.
These include: Boeing Business Jet (Boeing 737-800 or NAF 001), one Gulfstream 550, one Gulfstream V (Gulfstream 500), two Falcons 7X, one Hawker Siddeley 4000, two AgustaWestland AW 139 helicopters and two AgustaWestland AW 101 helicopters. Nevertheless, not all of the funds will be directly flight-related.
In the PAF budget also, N40.45m was earmarked for the construction and equipping of a new presidential kitchen and crew rest area; N80.50m for the construction and equipping of a fleet defence coordination centre; N120m for the renovation and equipping of the PAF Lagos warehouse; N100.75m for the construction of six units of four bedrooms for senior officers and road network, and N100.45m for the purchase of one marauder vehicle for force and assets protection.
Both the president and his vice’s offices will also be spending a total of N508.71m on foodstuffs and refreshments, even as the amount stands at N331.79m and N176.92m for the offices of the President and Vice-President, respectively.
In the 2023 proposal, however, only nine items were labelled as new or ongoing, amounting to N3.44bn./SHARE THIS